i hear this is the same problem in politics. a ton of fundraising and very little politicking or whatever it is politicians use to do normally during the day.
Young, talented and fed-up: scientists tell their stories
121–130 of 186 posts
Re: Young, talented and fed-up: scientists tell their stories
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've seen this used to explain the odd dovetailing of research and lecturing. There was a point where this made inherent sense - no one but research experts could educate new students, and students were attempting to quickly reach the state of the art. That's long past - a complex analysis expert with no training in education is a terrible candidate to teach basic multivariable calculus. And yet the whole thing makes…
"When I was at Princeton in the 1940s I could see what happened to those great minds at the Institute for Advanced Study, who had been specially selected for their tremendous brains and were now given this opportunity to sit in this lovely house by the woods there, with no classes to teach, with no obligations whatsoever. These poor bastards could now sit and think clearly all by themselves, OK? So they don't get any…
I think this is half-true. There's historically been a lot of cross-pollination between IAS and Princeton, which has resulted in some spectacular achievements such as the first electronic computer(the IAS machine; built a little bit after Feynman left I believe). IAS also has a lot of scholars who are working "remotely" at other institutions/colleges iirc. My general impression is that while there are a lot of slackers, there are also some really active and committed researchers, much like the rest of academia, so I'm not sure if we can reject the null hypothesis here so quickly.
Re: Young, talented and fed-up: scientists tell their stories
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hope you aren't downvoted for this, as this is basically my exact thought process for the last few years. > make rich people richer It is prop trading, so we are making ourselves richer, technically. We do a lot of charity work and donations with schools, etc. > Doesn't it feel like a waste of your talents Absolutely. However, I also like not having to beg my toddler to eat the food in front of him because payday i…
The cost of education (Fees) are going higher. Research/Researchers are not getting funded. Where is the money going to? Infrastructure of the universities?
Administrators.
Re: Young, talented and fed-up: scientists tell their stories
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
Doesn't it feel like a waste of your talents to have society employing you full-time to make rich people richer via gambling in the financial markets rather than something more beneficial to society? I don't blame you at all (I'm sure your quality of life is magnitudes of order better, and I'd do the same in your position) and this isn't personal at all, it just pains me that our brightest graduates are working in fi…
This question comes up in most discussions about finance and trading. I think it's the wrong question to ask. Academic research jobs, despite poor pay and conditions, are still some of the hardest positions to get . The demand for those jobs far, far outstrips supply. It's hard to get into a decent PhD program and then basically impossible to get a decent faculty position (or join MSR or whatever). Candidates aren't…
> just look at how faculty members are selected.
Plus, they typically only post openings once a year. If you miss the fall interview rounds (to start the following fall), you pretty much wait until the following year. So, you're looking at 2 years out if you don't have something lined up after your postdoc, or if you "finish" (whatever that means) your postdoc in late winter.
Re: Young, talented and fed-up: scientists tell their stories
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sorry if I'm missing the point of this quote, but it seems wrong to me that you "can't point to something to prove the money wasn't wasted".[1] You can always do some variant of "we tried this, it didn't work; in the future, you no longer have to spend money to see if this will work." Right? [1] Removing the triple negative: it should always be possible to prove the money accomplished something.
Sadly, the much-longed-for Journal of Negative Results does not exist, giving it an impact factor of 0.
Re: Young, talented and fed-up: scientists tell their stories
#126Re: Young, talented and fed-up: scientists tell their stories
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
Doesn't it feel like a waste of your talents to have society employing you full-time to make rich people richer via gambling in the financial markets rather than something more beneficial to society? I don't blame you at all (I'm sure your quality of life is magnitudes of order better, and I'd do the same in your position) and this isn't personal at all, it just pains me that our brightest graduates are working in fi…
I hope you aren't downvoted for this, as this is basically my exact thought process for the last few years. > make rich people richer It is prop trading, so we are making ourselves richer, technically. We do a lot of charity work and donations with schools, etc. > Doesn't it feel like a waste of your talents Absolutely. However, I also like not having to beg my toddler to eat the food in front of him because payday i…
I was in virtually the exact same position as you and made the same decision about a year and a half ago. I moved from biotech and neuroscience research into fintech consulting, to be able to feed my family and send my kids to a proper school.
I certainly would have preferred research, but given that most people just go voting for the same political parties that vehemently defend the current financial establishment, I have no remorse. (Yes, I am a huge Chomsky fan...) From my POV, we are only doing what is necessary to enable our families to have a normal life in a world getting more imbalanced, without any critical mass of people seeming to notice or care.
Hopefully, people will wake up soon enough and finally stop voting the non-options they are presented with (HC vs DT...)
Re: Young, talented and fed-up: scientists tell their stories
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sorry if I'm missing the point of this quote, but it seems wrong to me that you "can't point to something to prove the money wasn't wasted".[1] You can always do some variant of "we tried this, it didn't work; in the future, you no longer have to spend money to see if this will work." Right? [1] Removing the triple negative: it should always be possible to prove the money accomplished something.
From a business perspective, you're right enough. Academic research is not business oriented -- and Thompson was saying that it should not be. When discovered, there was nothing particular monitizable about quaternions, and they were not found as a consequence of any business enterprise looking for new tools -- but Hamilton didn't starve to death because he failed to capitalize on them. 80 years later, suddenly we re…
The quote is referring to proof of progress, not proof of profitability, which is a separate issue.
Re: Young, talented and fed-up: scientists tell their stories
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've seen this used to explain the odd dovetailing of research and lecturing. There was a point where this made inherent sense - no one but research experts could educate new students, and students were attempting to quickly reach the state of the art. That's long past - a complex analysis expert with no training in education is a terrible candidate to teach basic multivariable calculus. And yet the whole thing makes…
"When I was at Princeton in the 1940s I could see what happened to those great minds at the Institute for Advanced Study, who had been specially selected for their tremendous brains and were now given this opportunity to sit in this lovely house by the woods there, with no classes to teach, with no obligations whatsoever. These poor bastards could now sit and think clearly all by themselves, OK? So they don't get any…
This is absolutely a risk. I was thinking of Feynman when I brought it up, thanks for finding the quote!
The tenure-and-teaching model is a better one than it was ever given credit for; the seemingly irrational connection between elementary teaching and cutting-edge research has been a powerful one.
Even so, I think the IAS model is better than a lot of what we're seeing today. Now, introductory classes have been offloaded onto (poorly paid) lecturers, and professors are expected to publish consistently, even without funding. The results are hideous: not just inaction but counter-productive action.
The replication crisis is, to a real degree, a function of this paradigm. "No results" is not an acceptable justification for "no publications", so we see people using statistical trickery that has been bad practice for decades to keep up their publication count. I'd really like to see them go back to teaching and researching, but even a movement to sinecures that don't demand any results at all would be progress.
Re: Young, talented and fed-up: scientists tell their stories
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good optical microscope's are really not that expensive and last a long time. (AKA under 1,000$.) The equipment costs can quickly go up with new electron microscopes running 500k-6mill etc. But, restricting yourself to the minimum equipment 1 person needs for a specific kind of research is significantly cheaper than a more abstract lab. Further, used equipment can often be vastly cheaper. Honestly, time and consumabl…
Any decent fluorescent scope + base + optics + laser + dichroic will run you well north of 250K. Just the objectives are 10-20K. Two photon, more like 750. You want to do funny stuff like FRET or PALM or STED? You'll spend 700 grand on parts, and a year building the thing yourself because nobody sells them. You will not publish anything good enough to get tenure if all you have is widefield and a lamp in basically an…
I am in no way saying this stuff is not really really useful across a wide area. Just not required for every topic type of research.
Further, the assumption is this is someone that has tenure but not funding and is thus able to take long shot risks. Think designing an artificial intestines for microbiome research, not yet another paper using E. coli.